There's no 3G in Heaven

Some weeks ago on a Monday night, I had come across a tweet in the usual mix of #QandA jibes.  The tweeter had recommended watching Four Corners, a tough story told about Youth Suicide.

It was called "There's no 3G in Heaven", referencing the rise of social media thanks to the flexibility of smart phones and their ability to connect to the internet 24/7 thanks to the 3G networking across the country.  I finally got a chance to watch it this weekend, after saving it on my ABC iView.  I have to say, I was extremely alarmed when it revealed that the case studies presented by journalist Liz Jackson were all from my home town, the City of Casey.



To give some context, there is a growing epidemic of youth suicide in areas all very close to me - Pakenham, Berwick, Narre Warren, Dandenong.  Leading Youth Mental Health expert, Professor Patrick McGorry has been concerned for quite some time.  So too has the residents of the City of Casey, as parents are starting to become less silent in their grief and are asking hard questions of the community we live in, starting with the question of "What are we doing to prevent it?"

You may wish to go have a look at the Four Corners website by clicking here, to read a transcript of the episode, or even watch it through live streaming.

I don't know if I have too much to say about what I saw, other than I really want to put my hand up to do something positive and empowering about this topic.  When I was a teen, and it pains me to say that was 20 years ago....*sigh* anyway, when I was a teen I can recall two kids in high school committing suicide and a quite a few attempting it.  Two young men who on appearance had all the confidence in the world, had decent reputations amongst the students, seemed to be carefree actually.  They weren't companions of mine, but they had the stigma that everyone knew them.  It came as a complete shock that they felt such pain, that their only resolve was to end it.

So it's something that has been around the City of Casey for as long as I can remember.  I'm thankful that families are coming forward, and making this very situation real.  Dee McIntyre, a mother of young Paige who committed suicide a few months back, doesn't want her daughters death to be vain and I have to say, I'm so empowered by this mother.  She's hurting, and you can tell throughout the whole episode, but she's really up for making this very real for Paige's friend.  Not long after Paige's death, she left this message on Paige's Facebook.

"Can everyone please stop calling and messaging (my daughter). She doesn't have her phone. I do. And by the way there is no 3G in heaven."

I think this, in recent times, is one of the most powerful messages you can put out there for young adults.  Issues like suicide are at risk of being romanticised on social networks - the upsurge of You Tube videos with young people using Bob Dylan-esque placards telling their stories of bullying, ad-infinite Facebook Groups and Like pages that empower the young or berate them, the anonyminity of the Internet allowing anyone to say what they like, how they like with little thought of feelings, temperament and attitude - this and other things should be of concern to all users of things such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and other things.

If you're reading this, and in particular if you're a young adult, I want to ask of you one simple thing.  When you feel compelled to leave your heart on your virtual and interactive social network sleeve, can you please consider the life on your side of the monitor.  Who is there for you?  Search hard because I'm hopeful there is a community of people around you that can support and nurture you through your troubling time.  I totally appreciate the use of social networking, I have all the above mentioned accounts as well as this blog that I've used to help get myself into wellness, but it hasn't been my only thing.  I had to eat a lot of humble pie and say to my nearest family and my dearest family "I need help and I can't do it on my own", and found a very successful medium between my virtual friends and those on my side of the screen.

I am going to put my hand up and help my community.  There was a summit recently held in the City of Casey about youth suicide, and it looks like the media coverage it did have did not cover enough as the place was not completely filled with the concern that I thought there would be.  Regrettably, it was something I didn't attend when I could have and perhaps should have.  I can't sit down on this though, not now - this is a big problem, and we need to stand up.

For those who read my blog, and are from the City of Casey, I want you to do something for me.  Put your hand up and ask how you can help too.  You've all got young people who live in this area, start making people and governments accountable.  The City of Casey are going to election in a couple of weeks - start to ask councellors what they are going to do about this issue, and make your vote count.  Get in contact with those in the State and Federal Government and challenge why only $150,000 of an existing budget for Headspace (Australia's National Youth Health Initiative) has been allocated for one worker in the City of Casey for the next 12 months.  One person to solve an epidemic in 12 months?  It can't happen - it's going to take a community.

We are that community.

Nicky